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April 2024
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THE EMERGENT STRATEGY1/26/2022 A year ago, in a course seminar, one of my learners told me that their organization does not have a strategy. They, in practice, have what we call an emergent strategy. Emergent strategies do not come up from strategy retreats or top-down planning process of their leaders. It comes from continuous patterns of behaviors, inclinations, and moves that stem from an adaptive understanding of the competitive field and the resultant effects to products, services, and priorities. Smaller organizations rely on their yearly assessment to generate the kind of strategic knowledge they need to maintain their ordered disorder. More of a 'gut thinking' than a reliance to a formal systematic cognitive process. However, emergent does not mean not being able to define, articulate, and leverage your strategy to be able to win against competition or survive in tough times. A strategy is like an arrow in a skilled marksman. It's sharp, unyielding, and produces the intended impact, whether to defend oneself or make a ruckus. Be intentional with your target, because as "the arrow chases the target, the target chases the arrow." - Paolo Coelho. You can be precise but completely wrong, instead adjust as you build.
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SCARED THINKING IS ALWAYS SMALL THINKING11/1/2021 If leaders are scared, they make stupid decisions. I'm talking about cost-cutting measures in time of pandemic. If you cut everything that costs money, then you don't know what your financial (and organizational too!) values are. Stewardship is not about being stingy and operating on costs, it's about operating on value. Anything that involves increasing resilience and building lasting effects on your customers and constituencies should be nurtured and developed, even in climate of distress and uncertainty. Values-based organization do not operate on fear-based calculations, much less allow values creep. The best leaders in organizations retain and protect their strongest assets, which are inimitable and very hard to reconstruct. In times of stress, these assets work like magic. They provide the rest and bounce factors for staff and customers to thrive and not just survive. Cut everything that moves and you're cutting your oxygen source.
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SEE WHAT HAPPENS1/4/2021 In 2002, I got a rejection from a fellowship program which would have enabled me to have an international education.
Nevertheless, the same organization accepted me into their fellowship program in 2015 besting 500 other applicants vying for the prestigious placement. In 2010, I got a rejection from a job application, noting that I was the second best but they had to choose a more qualified, Canadian-born applicant. In less than three months, the Director got back to me and inquired if I found the job already and would like to offer a better position. In 2015, I got an offer for a consultancy with a firm knowing that I have both two senior associates /contacts invoking my name into the project. In less than a month, I got the contract. Six months, I made the connections not knowing where these may lead. In 2019, I got another offer after an exploratory conversation with the head officer of an organization. In 2020, I got two offers of publishing contract after three months of selling the book idea. You cannot second guess your next move as an impact leader. You have a set of information in your hand that you can use to move forward with confidence. Use your best judgement knowing that things may come around, or may not. The test for this is: were you all in or half-heartedly into the game? This year, be all in and see what happens. Uncertainty is the mother of ingenuity. |